
In a relatively brief meeting — adjourning just before 9 p.m. — the Edmonds City Council Tuesday night agreed on a process for selecting members of the pro and con committees for the Regional Fire Authority annexation special election April 22.
The council also learned about a proposal for upgrading the Frances Anderson Center’s HVAC system and it approved an amended interim ordinance on STEP Housing, based on requirements of House Bill 1220.
And it received a proclamation for Lunar New Year, which will be celebrated with a range of activities in Edmonds Saturday, Feb. 1. Learn more here. (Note that the Edmonds Center for the Arts event is now at capacity.)
Regarding the proposed fire authority annexation, the city council approved this special election by resolution on Jan. 7. Edmonds no longer operates its own fire department and has contracted with South County Fire for fire and emergency medical services since 2010. That agreement is set to expire at the end of 2025, after South County Fire gave notice in December 2023 that the fire authority intended to terminate its current 20-year contract with the city.
If annexation is approved by voters, Edmonds property owners would pay South County Fire directly for these services.
The Edmonds City Council has the legislative responsibility to appoint two committees to write ballot measure argument statements that appear in the election voters’ pamphlet. The pro committee writes the statement supporting the measure; the con committee writes the statement opposing the measure.
Each committee is allowed up to three volunteer members who must be residents of Edmonds.
You can see the list of applicants who have applied for both committees at this agenda link.

During Tuesday night’s meeting, the council considered two ways to select the committee members. The first would follow the process the council uses for appointing a new councilmember, council president or council president pro tem — with a slight modification. Instead of taking nominations from the dais and then voting in the order in which nominations are made, City Clerk Scott Passey proposed that the names of those who have already applied be randomly drawn for each group, with voting occurring in the order of the random drawing. The first three people to receive four of seven council votes would be appointed to each respective committee. The second option, explained by Councilmember Vivian Olson, would involve ranked choice voting, in which councilmembers would assign three points to their top choice, two points to their second choice and one point to their third choice — with the appointments going to those ranked as number one, two and three in terms of council points received.
Councilmembers ended up voting to approve the more familiar voting method already used for council appointments, with Councilmember Susan Paine stating she didn’t favor “adding some new twist for a matter that is so important to the public.”
Councilmembers are scheduled to select members for both the pro and con committees during their Feb. 4 meeting.
Regarding the Frances Anderson Center HVAC upgrade, the council heard the results of an “investment grade audit,” with Shelby Hinkle from McKinstry delivering the report.

Hinkle called the downtown building, which houses a range of activities, city staff offices and tenants, “a beacon for the community.” But to comply with the state’s Clean Buildings Act and align with Edmonds’ Climate Action Plan goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the city needs to replace its HVAC equipment to comply with modern code requirements. The updates
The audit identified five major challenges with the building:
– The facility’s two existing natural gas boilers are beyond their useful life. “What that means is that the equipment is failing, the risk of costly emergency repairs and loss of critical services like heat are at risk, Hinkle said.
– There’s no cooling. “The summer months seem to be getting hotter and hotter lately,” Hinkle said. “Occupant comfort is a pretty significant issue, and it’s actually beginning to impact the space. Programming classes are having to be canceled. Folks are having to shuffle around, just using the windows, opening and closing them to keep the space cool.”
– There’s no mechanical ventilation. To get air flow in the space, the only option is to open and close the windows. “This really impacts the ability for the occupants and the users of the space to have indoor air quality control,” she said. “And going forward, this is actually a code requirement for spaces to have some type of dedicated outdoor air system to make sure you’re maintaining a safe space for the folks that are occupants.
– The building management system “is a very simple and antiquated interface,” Hinkle said. “There’s only the capabilities to do system level scheduling, on or off, commands and alarms, and this really comes into play when you’re looking at the energy use of the facility. There’s much more robust mechanisms and ways to control your buildings that can really drive and impact your energy utilization.”
– The building’s existing hot water plant runs on natural gas, which is “a reliance on a fossil fuel that when looking at the city’s goals, we were hoping to shift away from. It’s nearing its end of useful life.”
The report recommended what Hikle described as “a very viable solution” — upgrading the HVAC system to a variable refrigerant flow system, or VRF. “It would be able to provide both heating and cooling and shift away from that reliance on fossil fuel,” she said.
This system would also install a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS). “This would add the necessary mechanical ventilation, and if we were upgrading the space, we would need to make sure we met Washington State Energy Code, which this would accomplish,” Hinkle said. “We would also go through and demo the existing thermostats, radiators, unit, ventilators and all the associated appurtenances. Just get the stuff that’s at end of useful life out of the space. We would also refurbish the existing gymnasium air handling units, so we’d get the new fans, coils, filters and VFDs (variable frequency drives).”
The preliminary project budget is estimated at $9.1 million to $10.2 million, although Hinkle said that the report did look into some value engineering options that could lower the costs to $8.5 million. Councilmembers asked about possible funding sources for the project, and Edmonds Facilities Manager Thom Sullivan said that the audit puts the project at 20% design, “which really makes us a good candidate when grant opportunities come available.”
Regarding grants, Sullivan noted that the environment is challenging, something that Mayor Mike Rosen alluded to when he talked during his financial update Tuesday about the White House’s recent announcement regarding the freeze of grant funding. The mayor said he had asked city staff to identify posssible programs that could be impacted, and also said the city is in touch with other government organizations to track possible effects.
The interim STEP ordinance approved by the council Tuesday is based on requirements of HB 1220, which requires changes to the city’s development regulations to allow four specific housing types: emergency shelter, transitional housing, emergency housing, and permanent supportive housing.
According to the Washington State Department of Commerce, “STEP, like emergency shelters, emergency housing and transitional housing, may help individuals and families experiencing homelessness meet their basic needs while they wait for affordable permanent housing to become available. By offering an alternative, STEP can reduce the number of people living and sleeping in unsafe conditions and divert people from living in public spaces.”

This is the second time the council has considered the interim ordinance. The council originally placed it on the Jan. 14 consent agenda for approval, but then agreed with a proposal from Council President Neil Tibbott to delay that vote so he could research the issue further. The interim ordinance approved by the council Tuesday includes two Tibbott-proposed amendments — first, that nuisances and criminal behavior are subject to enforcement to the full extent of the city’s code. And second, that evictions of residents for unsafe actions are not precluded by city codes.
Councilmembers Paine and Jenna Nand voted against the amendments, which passed 4-2 with Councilmember Chris Eck absent. Both councilmembers said they didn’t believe it was necessary to include this information in the city’s community development code. “We have other parts of the code that address evictions, and I think it could potentially cause confusion,” Nand said.
“I do think it is redundant to the codes that we already have in our laws now,” Paine said of the first amendment related to nuisances and criminal behavior.
“I think this actually helps support the people that are running the organizations, that they know that they have the support of the city and the law enforcement, [and] that there’s no carve-out for illegal behaviors,” Councilmember Vivian Olson countered.
Because it’s an interim ordinance, the council must hold a public hearing within six months of adoption, and a Feb. 11 date has been proposed. After that, the council could “do more community outreach and input, draft a longer-term code with any refinements [and] bring it back to council for further consideration,” Interim Planning and Development Director Shane Hope said. The council will then have a final public hearing before approving a permanent code.
Look for a more detailed story on the STEP legislation and its impacts in Edmonds in a future story coming soon.
In other business, the council:
– Approved a proposal (originally on the consent agenda but pulled for an amendment) that approves a new start time of 6 p.m. for council meetings and a revised structure for council committee meetings. The new committee format replaces the previous structure of three committees of two members, with each focused on specific city areas, such as public works and finance. Now there will be two council committees of three members — labeled A and B. Committee A, chaired by Councilmember Michelle Dotsch with members Paine and Will Chen, will meet at 3 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month. Committee B, chaired by Jenna Nand with members Eck and Olson, will meet at the same time on the third Tuesday. Also on the third Tuesday, there will be a 6 p.m. Committee as a Whole — including all councilmembers and chaired by Tibbott — that will discuss council-wide topics. The amendment — proposed by Paine and approved unanimously — removed a proposal that the council president make seating assignments for each meeting. Paine said she felt the language was “a little bit too directive” for city code.
– Approved contract extensions for Shane Hope as interim planning and development director (her appointment expires March 9) and Phil Williams as interim public works and utilities director (his appointment expires Feb. 12) — for six months or until the role is filled.
– Heard a report from Acting Finance Director Kim Dunscombe regarding the interfund loan that allows the city’s utility funds to loan $5 million to the city’s general fund to assist with Edmonds’ budget shortfall. Councilmember Chen, chair of the council committee that also heard Dunscombe’s report last week, said he invited Dunscombe to the full council. The goal, Chen explained, was to assure the public that the city’s utility funds “will be sound” following the loans, which incldue $2.5 million from the water fund and $2.5 million from the stormwater fund. “We are still above our reserve requirements,” Chen said.
— By Teresa Wippel
Since we are so concerned with language it should be for and against, the pro and con term has negative connotations to those against. My observation
South County fire is already terminating the city contract. Edmonds has no money to pay for its own fire department without raising taxes. So this isn’t much of a choice considering how insurance companies are looking to cancel policies for any reason. Edmonds is paying with fire. Literally and figuratively.
Wrong we have a choice, many choices. If you vote No, South County Fire will provide services under a new contract. The terms of which have been discussed on MEN.
A No vote will give the city and its residents time to explore alternatives.
The city is taking the easy way out.
We can do better!
And who checks the fire hydrants to see if they ALL work, ie, Los Angeles ??
…just sayin’